Farewell. The Flying Pig Has Left The Building.

Steve Hynd, August 16, 2012

After four years on the Typepad site, eight years total blogging, Newshoggers is closing it's doors today. We've been coasting the last year or so, with many of us moving on to bigger projects (Hey, Eric!) or simply running out of blogging enthusiasm, and it's time to give the old flying pig a rest.

We've done okay over those eight years, although never being quite PC enough to gain wider acceptance from the partisan "party right or wrong" crowds. We like to think we moved political conversations a little, on the ever-present wish to rush to war with Iran, on the need for a real Left that isn't licking corporatist Dem boots every cycle, on America's foreign misadventures in Afghanistan and Iraq. We like to think we made a small difference while writing under that flying pig banner. We did pretty good for a bunch with no ties to big-party apparatuses or think tanks.

Those eight years of blogging will still exist. Because we're ending this typepad account, we've been archiving the typepad blog here. And the original blogger archive is still here. There will still be new content from the old 'hoggers crew too. Ron writes for The Moderate Voice, I post at The Agonist and Eric Martin's lucid foreign policy thoughts can be read at Democracy Arsenal.

I'd like to thank all our regular commenters, readers and the other bloggers who regularly linked to our posts over the years to agree or disagree. You all made writing for 'hoggers an amazingly fun and stimulating experience.

Thank you very much.

Note: This is an archive copy of Newshoggers. Most of the pictures are gone but the words are all here. There may be some occasional new content, John may do some posts and Ron will cross post some of his contributions to The Moderate Voice so check back.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Romney Foreign Policy

The citizens of the United States are tired of war, George W Bush's wars. Given that I have some advice for the Obama campaign - forget Bain Capitol and go after Romney's foreign policy. Collin Powell gave them the talking points.

WASHINGTON - Former Secretary of State Colin Powell on Wednesday questioned Mitt Romney's choice in foreign policy advisers, saying that some are so right-wing that the advice they give deserves "second thought.

"I don't know who all of his advisers are, but I've seen some of the names and some of them are quite far to the right. And sometimes they might be in a position to make judgments or recommendations to the candidate that should get a second thought," Powell said during an appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

He gave the example of Romney recently saying that Russia is the "number one geopolitical foe" to the United States.

Yet though the candidates and their views were often hard to take seriously, their statements on foreign policy reflected a more disturbing trend in the GOP. Despite facing a war-weary public, the candidates-with the exception of Ron Paul, an antiwar libertarian, and Jon Huntsman, a moderate internationalist-positioned themselves as unapologetic war hawks. That included Mitt Romney, marginally more polished than his rivals but hardly an expert. Given Romney's well-established penchant for flip-flopping and opportunism, it's difficult to know what he really believes on any issue, including foreign affairs (the campaign did not respond to a request for comment). But a comprehensive review of his statements during the primary and his choice of advisers suggests a return to the hawkish, unilateral interventionism of the George W. Bush administration should he win the White House in November.

Bush retreads:

Romney is loath to mention Bush on the campaign trail, for obvious reasons, but today they sound like ideological soul mates on foreign policy. Listening to Romney, you'd never know that Bush left office bogged down by two unpopular wars that cost America dearly in blood and treasure. Of Romney's forty identified foreign policy advisers, more than 70 percent worked for Bush. Many hail from the neoconservative wing of the party, were enthusiastic backers of the Iraq War and are proponents of a US or Israeli attack on Iran. Christopher Preble, a foreign policy expert at the Cato Institute, says, "Romney's likely to be in the mold of George W. Bush when it comes to foreign policy if he were elected." On some key issues, like Iran, Romney and his team are to the right of Bush. Romney's embrace of the neoconservative cause-even if done cynically to woo the right-could turn into a policy nightmare if he becomes president.

Yes, when it comes to foreign policy Romney even scares the Koch brothers Cato Institute. There is every reason to believe that a Romney administration would bring more wars and more tax cuts leading to a ballooning deficit. No body who is sane thinks that a war with Iran would be anything but a disaster.

If you liked George W Bush you will love Mitt Romney. That would make a great bumper sticker.

1 comment:

No, no, no, no. "It's the economy stupid."Why do Democrats keep falling into traps to start diverting the dialog into subjects that are down the list at number eleven or twelve on the list of things that concern the average voter? Jobs and the economy are #1, and #2 on everybody's list of concerns, and we all think that Obama should talk about birth control or Indian affairs or the price of celery root in grocery stores. Romney is weak on the economy and he needs to be attacked on the economy and have his bogus talking points debunked.Obama needs to talk about jobs and the economy. And when he's done talking about jobs and the economy he needs to talk about jobs and the economy. And then he needs to talk about jobs and the ecomomy. After that he needs to talk about jobs and the ecomomy.